El Phantasmo Makes Surprise Return at 12/22 NJPW Event & Reveals He’s Cleared to Compete from Cancer

As noted before, El Phantasmo has been out of action for New Japan Pro Wrestling since this past October due to him battling cancer.

Sunday’s Road to the Tokyo Dome event for NJPW in Tokyo, Japan featured El Phantasmo making a surprise return.

During the show, Jado, who was dressed as Santa Claus was in the ring with House of Torture leading to El Plhantasmo’s music playing and him coming out to the ring draped in a Canadian flag. After clearing the ring of House of Torture, El Phantasmo told Jado to tell something to the crowd, which was Jado stating that El Phantasmo has been medically cleared to compete again. El Phantasmo grabbed Ren Narita’s NJPW World Television Championship and held it up teasing that he wants to challenge for it in the future.

Following his appearance, NJPW confirmed El Phantasmo’s return from his health issues on their official website.

NJPW’s official website:

El Phantasmo is back!

ELP Joins NJPW World TV Title Chase

It was a surprising moment at Korakuen Hall on December 22nd. Following a grueling three-way tag match, Santa Jado made a surprise appearance and presented NJPW World Television Champion Ren Narita with a special Christmas gift. However, what Narita found inside was something no one expected: a pair of blue glasses — belonging to none other than El Phantasmo.

ELP had been absent from the World Tag League due to medical reasons, but now fully recovered, he wasted no time making an impact. Back in the ring, he cleared out HOUSE OF TORTURE and declared that he was medically cleared to compete — not only for tomorrow’s match but also for this year’s Tokyo Dome. More importantly, he set his sights squarely on Narita’s championship title.

With El Phantasmo’s return, it seems Jeff Cobb and Ryohei Oiwa have an additional challenge ahead of them as they prepare for Tokyo Dome, where ELP is ready to make his mark once again.